Sineya
by Cliodhna
Summary: The story of the ill-fated First Slayer on her journey from the placement of power within her by the Shadow Men, to her cruel and lonely death. Nominated at the Sunnydale Memorial Awards! Please R&R.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Joss Whedon.

A/N: Thought I'd try something new. Let me know your thoughts on this one, please.

Additional A/N: This fic has recently been nominated for the best Original Character award at Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards! Voting is now open at the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction Awards - if you like my writing, drop in and vote for me and my three nominated stories, Potential, La Cara Verdadera, and Sineya.

Prologue.

They call me the Primitive.

I am not what they say I am. I am raw power, fierce and strong. I am the first, I will not be the last.

Once I had a name. But they do not call me anything. I am a weapon for them to wield. I was created for them to fight the war. I will fight, and I will die. My power will be passed on. Girl to girl. Forever, they say.

I cannot see forever. It is not mine to view. I am destined to die long before forever.

I am the Slayer.


	2. Msichana

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Feedback much needed here. I know literally nothing about the first slayer – there's so little canon about her, so I'm just going with imagination. Correct me if you find anything erroneous.

**Mischana**

_Girl_

Sun rose every morning, and set again at night.

When I was a child it seemed like a miracle. Something wonderful, a gift to man, to make up for the hardships we suffered. I never thought the cycle of the sun would be something I would grow to fear.

I grew up in the Sahara; part of the Kabila tribe. The Sahara was not the dry desert it is now, it was vast grasslands; crops and animals were plentiful, and my people were happy.

When I was very small, I knew nothing of the terror of the world.

As myself and the other children of the tribe grew older, we heard of the secrets whispered by the elders; rumours of the dark beings which swept our land by nightfall, claiming members of the tribe for their own. The elders were adamant that they could solve the problem, that other tribes had been decimated and yet we stood firm. The elders began to train themselves in the magicks of the earth; but all the while, the droves of dark beings inched closer and closer to our homestead.

Despite the warning of the elders, some of my peers took upon themselves the task of ridding our tribe of the threat.

This was the first night of my life in which I experienced fear.

XXXXX

'Sineya, are you coming?' Uzuri said, pulling me by the wrist, bidding me to leave my hut and venture out to the moonlit night.

I shook my head. 'Uzuri, no! The elders say there is no need for us to involve ourselves.'

Uzuri laughed, it was a smooth sound, like birdsong. 'We are all going, you cannot stay!' she tugged my arm, and I unwillingly stood up. Uzuri and I were born at the same time and had reached womanhood together, but she was much stronger than I at that time.

'Who is going?' I hissed. 'Khairi? Akida? They are children!'

'They lead us! Akida will be elder one day!' Uzuri insisted, dragging me to the wall which protected our village, where we were to meet the others.

I viewed the group by the wall. There were six of my friends there, people I had lived my whole life with. Kito, tall and muscular, Sauda, devastatingly beautiful, Khairi, who always hungered for adventure, Jabari, who was fast becoming the best hunter in the village, though he was young. Akida stood proud, the oldest of us all, and his sister, Kamaria, who clutched several long wooden sticks. These six people had been in the world for a very similar amount of time as Uzuri and I. We were still so young, and our faces were steeped in shadow.

'Are we ready then?' Akida asked Uzuri, anxious to be out on the plains, fighting the dark ones.

Uzuri glanced at me. 'I couldn't convince any more,' she said to him.

'I cannot come,' I said desperately. 'You should not either!' I grabbed the front of Akida's robes. 'Do not lead your friends to their deaths!' Akida regarded my thin hands clutching his garment with confusion.

'Jabari stepped forward, and pried my fingers from Akida's chest. 'If you are not courageous enough to help rid our village of the plague of dark ones, we will leave you here, and claim the prize for our own.'

I stared up at them, and sank to my knees. 'Do not go; you will not come back.'

'We will return, and we will be honoured,' Kamaria hissed, her high voice piercing my mind. I closed my eyes and prayed to the Gods that they would heed me.

I opened my eyes when I heard movement in front of me; Sauda was kneeling to face me.

'Sauda, please, stay,' I whispered. Sauda shook her head.

'I want to fight, to save our people. We will see you, Sineya,' she said, as she kissed my forehead and stood once more.

I watched, helpless, as they left without another word, and then I ran to the hut of the elders.

XXXXX

The three elders of our tribe sat in stony silence as I told them my story. Rahidi, Enzi, and Asili, whose names meant much more to the tribespeople than mere titles. Rahidi meant 'wise counsellor,' and so the people saw him to be fit to rule. Enzi meant power, and the people sought this for protection, and so Enzi was granted a place as an elder. Asili meant beginnings, the source; a deeper meaning which transpired to be of much more importance for myself than for any of the other villagers.

'We must pray for their safe return to us,' Asili said calmly, when I had finished.

'What?' I cried. 'No! We must go after them! They do not even know how to defeat the Dark Ones!'

Rahidi bid me to calm down. 'We cannot go after them. We have not strength enough yet.'

'You are leaving them to die,' I said quietly. It was not a question. It was a statement of fact. A realisation that the elders were not what I had always believed them, to be. I stood up to leave, when Enzi's voice halted me. 'We will have news in the morning, Sineya, do not fear, but go back to your home and sleep.'

I turned my back to them. I felt my features harden as I felt hope flee my mind. By the time I had returned to my hut, my face had softened and hot tears were coursing over my cheeks. I lay on my animal skins, the opposite side of the hut from my parents, and I tried to rest.

XXXXX

The next morning, I woke slowly, dreading the day to come. I made my way to the communal garden where the tribe gathered for meetings or recreation. It was very quiet.

There was a clearing in the crowd, and I made my way towards this gap, when I heard the first voice I'd heard all day.

'Kito!' I yelped, as I reached the clearing, overjoyed that my friends had survived the night.

Kito turned away from the elders; turned to face me. I withdrew in shock. Kito's handsome face was ruined. There were rips in his robes, and he was stained with blood. His arms were shredded, and he was paler than I'd ever seen him.

'Sineya,' he whispered, 'you were right. We should have stayed.' I could only look on as my friend stretched what was left of his face into a bitter smile. He gave one last, shuddering cough, spraying me with his blood. He fell to his knees, and lay on his side on the ground. I took him in my arms, supporting his head, and his dark eyes, haunted now, sought mine. Then he was still.

I stayed like that for an immeasurable amount of time, before turning my blazing eyes to the elders. 'The others?' I asked coldly. I knew the answer.

'Kito was the only one to return,' Asili answered, his voice hard. 'They were decimated.'

I felt my mothers' arms around me, pulling me away from Kito's body. I was taken to the river and instructed to wash. Then I was left alone.

I was drenched in the blood of a friend, and it would not be the last time.

XXXXX

Much later, I was still sitting in the sun next to the river, my face black, but my mind as busy as it had ever been. My friends were dead. I had never experienced loss before. Now seven people whom I'd know my whole life were gone forever. I had been told stories of the paradises people entered when they left our realm, but somehow I could not make the memory of Kito lying in his own viscera shift into him being welcomed into heaven.

'Sineya?' A voice called. I slowly drifted out of my musings, and found myself facing the elders.

'Yes?' I answer, shielding my eyes from the harsh sun.

'Come with us,' they said in unison, and I followed.

They led me far from the village, to a place where there were hardly any plants, and water was scarce, the sun was so bright here I could hardly see; it was a relief when the elders led me into a dark cave buried beneath a dune. As I waited for my vision to return to me, the elders led me to the centre of the cave, where a strange swirling pattern had been etched into the rock. The heavy robes of the elders made noises as they swept the hard ground beneath them.

My sight swirled back into focus. I looked at the elders; they were draped in shadows.

They each picked up a long wooden staff from the ground, and began crashing them to the ground in a steady beat. I stood with my back to the wall, a strange feeling solidifying in my stomach. Vines burst from the stone and snaked around me, binding me to the ground, chaining me to the earth.

Enzi knelt to the ground and picked up a small, black, wooden box.

I struggled against my bindings, helpless to free myself. 'Why?' I cried desperately. 'I am just a girl!' I began to sob, the vines cutting into my flesh.

'This is why we have chosen you, Sineya,' Asili said softly. 'You are just a girl. You have instinct already, and unfulfilled potential surrounds you.' He accepted the box from Enzi, and came closer to me.

'Potential?' I screamed at him. 'What are you doing to me? You are the elders!'

'We have been going by another name for some time now, girl,' Enzi said coldly. 'We are the Shadow Men.'

'We've honed our powers,' Rahidi said. 'And we know the way to defeat the rising dark.'

At those words, Asili removed the lid of the box, and a thick black substance flew out of it, neither liquid nor gas. I screamed silently as the blackness descended into me and filled me up.

I became limp in my bindings, as the power took hold of me, and began to transform me, and the Shadow Men watched, and waited.


	3. Mpigani

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Let me know your thoughts.

* * *

**Mpigani**

_Warrior_

I writhed in silent agony for a long time. The Shadow Men guarded the entrance of the cave ensuring our solitude. The blackness was consuming me, I felt it changing my core, my insides twisting and distorting, making way for something new. The Shadow Men talked while they waited, but my pain was such that I could barely hear their words.

Slowly, the blazing pain began to fade, and their conversations became clearer to my burning ears.

'Another spell after this?' I heard the calm voice of Rahidi ask his fellows.

Enzi scoffed; 'she looks as if this one will kill her,' he stated with venom. 'If she does not survive we will need to find another girl suitable.'

'Fear not, Enzi, she will survive. She will be stronger than any of us soon.'

With those words, my pain receded entirely, and for an instant, everything was still.

Then suddenly; I took a breath that was like no other air; it filled me up and without even trying, I broke free of the bindings which for so long had held me imprisoned in their arms.

The Shadow Men stood quickly, and began to chant, crashing their staffs to the ground once more.

Words I couldn't distinguish flowed from their mouths, and swam around my head; I felt dizzy and dropped to the ground on all fours. I stayed there until Rahidi pulled me upright with his magicks.

'Slayer,' he said simply. I fixed my eyes on his. 'You are the Slayer.'

XXXXX

The Slayer, I was told, would protect the world from evil, from the dark ones. I felt the innocence of my previous life slip away, as they spoke of so many things I didn't understand, words I had never known. They'd renamed the dark ones, they said, they'd named it Ramanga, after the beast of the Betsileo people, but had eventually created their own word for the beings.

Vampire.

I was instructed to kill the vampires.

I regarded the three men who had violated me with their magic, and I wondered how I would be able to kill a vampire. I was so young, so small, and those vampires had torn apart my friends.

'We have given you power, Slayer, and strength,' Asili said to me.

I opened my mouth to speak, and was surprised that I was still able to. 'I have to rid the village of the vampires?' I croaked, my throat sore after the spell. They nodded. 'Then I can go back to the tribe?'

Enzi laughed coldly; it echoed loudly around the cave. 'You will fight the darkness until you die, Slayer, and then another girl will be given the strength.'

'Until I die?' I whispered hopelessly.

'then the strength will leave you and will enter another girl. She will continue your work,' Asili said, smiling. 'Don't you see, Slayer, we have made you part of a wonderful, beautiful chain of girls who will fight the dark for the good of her people!'

'I am not a person anymore,' I said, regarding my body with disgust. 'You put evil in me; I can feel it.'

Enzi's face clouded. 'You will not tell anyone of this, Slayer. Do not tell your people, just protect them.'

I looked up, slowly, and fixed my eyes to his. 'I have no people,' I said, before running out of the cave, and as far away as I could.

XXXXX

I kept running for a very long time. I had no idea how long I had spent in the cave, but the sun had just risen when I escaped it, and as I kept running through the dry desert, far, far from the lush green of home, the sun began to fall from the sky.

I stopped then, and fear took hold of me again. What if there were vampires here? I had no knowledge of how to beat them, only that they ventured out at night.

I sat on the sandy ground, running my hands over the few plants that were growing nearby.

An image suddenly presented itself to me; Kamaria, with her long pointed wooden sticks. Perhaps they had figured out a way to defeat the vampires without the aid of the sun?

I stood up; it was the only knowledge I had , I had to use it.

I spent the rest of the time before the sun disappeared collecting fallen branches, anything long and sharp and wooden. I placed myself near a lonely river, in case water was fatal to them. Then I waited.

Very quickly, a lone figure emerged from another cave beneath a dune. The figure came towards me. It was a tall man, and he was wearing a simple loincloth. I wondered briefly why he did not wear more robes or skins, but he was upon me too quickly for me to figure it out then.

My first fight was a very brief one, but it opened a gate through which knowledge flooded. In an instant, I became what the Shadow Men called me.

I quickly found that large amounts of clothing were unnecessary and were often an obstacle to defeating my opponent. I learned, through painstaking trial and error, that the wooden stick had to be placed in a very specific region of the demon, or it would not die. I learned that if I took too long, the vampire would hurt me. Most of all, I learned that my strength was greater than theirs.

I fought badly, my strength my only advantage, but with a great effort, I was able to pierce the chest of the vampire.

I collapsed to the ground, my face landing in the pale pile of ashes, dampened by the stream nearby. I straightened myself, staring at the ashes which I had created. I saw my reflection in the water. The ashes were plastered to my face, they formed a mask. My dark eyes shone through, haunted by what I'd seen.

This became my guise.

XXXXX

Seven nightfalls later, I was by the river again, mixing the ashes of the last vampire I'd killed with the water, before spreading it on my face. I was crouched, feral, waiting.

I heard the noise I'd been waiting for. Thumping, in the distance, footsteps. Vampires watching for predictable humans as they searched for water.

I was ready for them now.

The vampires prowled towards me, unaware of my presence. I stiffened, instinct telling me to prepare myself. Suddenly, the largest of the group paused, and sniffed the air like an animal.

'There - is – food,' he rasped, his voice deep and throaty, like it was unused. His fellows followed his lead and sniffed the air, breaking into inhuman smiles when they tasted my scent on the air.

The moment would be upon me soon.

'There,' the smallest one said, pointing at my shadowy figure by the river, partially concealed by a lonely tree.

As the three or four vampires howled with the joy of the hunt, they leapt at my crouched form, expecting an easy kill.

This, I had found, was a helpful advantage, which lulled the vampires into a false sense of security. As they began to beat me, I was able to throw them off my form and attack all of them at once. I saw their eyes widen in shock as if watching from the sidelines. I watched as I staked the first one with one of my long branches, but I, in my haste, had forgotten to withdraw the branch after plunging it into the beast's heart. I had learned the previous night that if you did not keep hold of the branch, it dissolved like the vampires. I then had to source some other wooden tool; I had found in my previous hunts that stone did not hurt them. I pushed a second vampire into a low hanging branch of the tree, and he became dust like the first. The two remaining were fearful and weak, and I disposed of them easily with stray twigs from the tree beside me. I then gathered up the ashes they had left of themselves, and poured them into a hollow stone I used for this purpose. I checked my reflection in the rippling water. My mask still remained, disguising myself even to my own eyes.

I lifted the heavy stone with ease, and I began to make my way to the cold, dark cave which was now my home.

In the short time since I had become the slayer, I had already begun to feel accustomed to the role, and this frightened me. I was becoming proficient at killing the vampires, I was a better fighter than they were. I no longer felt the pangs of loneliness I had at first; no longer missed the company of my friends as parents, of the animals and plants of my lush green home. I no longer pined for the child I had once been. All I felt was the exhilaration of the fight, the thrill of winning, of escaping death.

I had not seen nor heard the Shadow Men since the day I had escaped from their cave. I didn't wish to see them again. Sometimes, whilst in the throes of the fight, I felt that if I saw the Shadow Men again, I would kill them, but as soon as I had disposed of the beast I was fighting, shame would descend upon me, and I would vow never to kill a human. I was a slayer of animals who killed for pleasure, not of innocents.

I did not know then, that even though such a short time had elapsed since my first battle with a vampire…that I was quickly becoming as inhuman as they were.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took me so long. Reviews please!


	4. Kitisho

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Long time again, but don't let it stop you reviewing, please.

* * *

**Kitisho**

_Fear_

There is the fight, but it will be brief. There is the beast, but it will be dust. So was my life, for as many days as I could count and beyond. I learned to hunt for myself, catching my meals and eating them, crouched, feral, always alert, always watchful. Always waiting. My hands grew hard, like my heart.

The world was my enemy, and it was all I could do to stay alive.

I became as primitive as the beasts I fought, and I began to love it. I lusted after the night. The cool, calm darkness, bringing with it fire and ice, life and death. I won, I savoured the win. To lose was to die, and I would not go like Kito, like the others. My friends, my cherished friends, they were like stories now, whispers on the wind. They were so far from me. I was a warrior.

I was the Slayer.

XXXXX

I ran faster than the sloping, sneaky desert animals I shared my beautiful Sahara with. I ran for days at a time, marvelling at my speed, my grace, the way my feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. I so rarely looked at my surroundings.

I stopped to find something to eat before the darkness fell. It seemed like lifetimes since my transformation. My eyes, trained to spot the slightest movement, spied a creature moving towards me in the distance. The Sun was setting, casting long shadows over his face, but before long, I had seen all I needed to.

'Rahidi,' I growled. My voice was hoarse through lack of use. I reached up to check that my mask was still in place. It was, hard and white, disguising me even from myself.

The man, the elder, the evil bastard who violated me made his way towards me slowly. His gait was lopsided, as if he had been hurt, and I felt a savage joy to think of it.

'Sineya,' he croaked as he neared me.

'No,' I said, my voice harsh and rough. 'I am the primitive.'

'Sineya, please,' Rahidi's voice is pleading. 'Help us.'

'Sineya is no more,' I hiss. 'I am the slayer. The one girl.'

'Chosen,' Rahidi continued, 'to protect us all.'

He fell to his knees. I looked down at his feeble frame, and see the blood seeping from beneath his robes. My own body is clad in thin white rags. They cling to my frame and allow me to move freely in combat.

'You are foolishly dressed,' I spat, and followed his footprints back to the tribe.

XXXXX

The village no longer looked like home. I walked through the familiar paths and saw nothing of my youth here. I passed through the deserted communal garden and saw a shrine to my friends who had foolishly fought the vampires. The shrine was spattered with something dark. I reached over to touch it, it was sticky. I brought it up to my nose, and despite my new resilience, I recoil. It's blood. Fresh blood. I made my way to my parent's hut, despite it all, I was worried for them. When I reached the front door, it was slightly ajar and the place was deserted.

Anxiety began to build in the pits of my stomach. I knew there was only one more place to check, and so I headed to the Elder's Hut.

When I pushed the door open, there were yelps of terror. It seemed almost everyone from the town was gathered inside this one hut as the sun dipped lower in the sky.

'Begone, beast!' a man I'd known my whole life yelled.

'Sudi,' I croaked.

'It knows us!' Sudi screamed. 'Demon!'

'It is Sineya,' I said quietly.

'Sineya left us,' I hear my mother's voice whisper.

'Mother, it is I,' I said.

Her face was hard. 'You are not my daughter.'

I reached once more for my mask. 'This is my guise. It is Sineya inside.'

I walked further into the hut. 'Where are the Elders?'

'Here,' said a deep and authoritative voice.

'Asili,' I snarled. 'You speak freely to me?'

'Why should I not?' Asili said fiercely. 'We gave you everything, strength, power, skills, everything you needed to fight the coming darkness and save your people, and you deserted them. You are nothing to me but failure.'

'You gave me everything?' I said, surprised. 'You took my life from me! My humanity! You put blackness inside and it's filling me up!' Tears began to well in my eyes and my voice dropped. 'You gave me the heart of the coming darkness. I cannot fight fire with fire forever.'

'You cannot fight it at all,' Asili growled. 'You are worthless to our cause.'

I could feel my tears mingling with the hardened ash on my face and I fled the hut, hating the accusatory stares burned into my eyes from my fellows. I ran to the garden and sat opposite the shrine, staring at the gaudy flowers and offerings that represented the town's sadness and respect for the horrific event. I realised it had barely been a season since I had left this place, but still, my life had changed immeasurably. My heart was as still as those I turned to dust. I looked at the beautiful shrine and I formulated a plan. If I protected the town for this night, they would accept me once more into their arms and I would no longer be the primitive. It was a mantle I no longer wanted. The elder's could imbue another girl with my strength and I could again be Sineya.

Oh, how I missed Sineya.

I sat in front of the shrine until the sun had disappeared totally from the sky, and then I stationed myself by the river, as was my custom, and readied myself for the inevitable fight, and the resulting dust with which I would bathe in.

XXXXX

'She is unremarkable,' Asili said sharply.

'On the contrary, she is powerful. She has lasted this long without instruction or direction. She may rid us of the beasts forever,' Enzi nodded slowly. 'And if not, we kill her, and the next vessel will.'

XXXXX

I crouched low, missing the vampire's kick by inches and throwing her off balance. I responded with a swift jab at her throat and I quickly staked her while she was distracted. Her friend wailed in anger and flew at me, kicking me to the ground and baring her fanged face as she leaned down to drink. As she inched closer to me, I thrust another stake upwards and she dusted on top of me. Coughing, I turned to face at least three other emerging from the blackness.

Unknown to me, the tribe watched from a distance, peering round the side of the Elder's hut, their faces painted with horror like mine was with dust.

'She's not right,' one whispered to another.

'She's gone mad with heat,' another said. 'It happens, when you're out in the desert alone.'

'The Gods have seen fit to take her from us,' my mother whispered. 'And have left us with this evil shell.'

I flipped upright, and staked one with the end of a long branch from the banks of the river, and tripped another with the other end. I rolled to meet him on the ground, and twisted his neck before he could attack. He falls backwards, an explosion of dust at my feet, but I was already concentrating on the one who had caught me from behind and had my neck. I headbutted the demon, and they, falling backwards, impaled themselves on a low hanging branch from a nearby tree.

I have a second to gather myself before the next one is upon me.

'She is greater than all of them,' a tribesman whispered, narrowing his eyes at me, fighting in the distance. 'She is dangerous.'

'Greater and more terrible,' someone else agreed. 'She has killed them all.'

It was true, the last one was dust, and I was exhausted. I had never taken on so many at once. Time had passed quickly, and the sun was once more hazing the horizon. I turned to where the tribe stood, watching me, I had not noticed them before.

My face was sticky with dust and water and heat, so I washed it quickly in the river, before, without thinking, applying my usual face paint of ashes. I entered the village, expecting to hear applause, or at least, the gracious thanks of my fellow man.

Instead, I was met with their stares. Their eyes glazed over with fear as I passed, and by the time I had reached the elder hut, almost everyone had absconded.

I did not have to knock. The Elders were waiting. Rahidi and Enzi stood, watching me.

'You let Asili die,' they said. Their countenance was terrible.

'I saved the whole tribe!' I croaked. My voice did not sound like I would ever be able to speak normally again.

'You inspire nothing but fear. Never return to this place, Slayer,' Rahidi spat.

'You are a disgusting failure,' Enzi hissed. 'When you die, we will see that there will be no more like you.'

I stood, shaken. 'I did what you asked me,' I stated hoarsely.

'And you will do it again or we will kill you,' Enzi pointed to the horizon. 'Leave.'

Numbly, I walked the familiar path to the edge of the village. I turned back once, near the boundary. All I saw was fear. I could smell it. Taste it on my tongue. Feel it, constricting me like the ashes on my face. There was nothing for me here now.

I was alone. All the emotions that had returned to me since I had revisited my home fled from me as I walked away for the last time. I was hard, and cold. I was destruction. Absolute. Alone.

I would never be Sineya again.

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Review, please!


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